Project Press Releases
- September 25, 2007pdfProject on Emerging Nanotechnologies and Consumers Union Collaborate on "ConsumersTalkNano"Today, the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, in collaboration with Consumers Union—publishers of Consumer Reports magazine and Consumer Reports Online— announces a major effort to reach out to the American public and engage them in an important online conversation about the possible risks and benefits of nanotechnology and consumer products.
- September 25, 2007pdfPoll Reveals Public Awareness of Nanotech Stuck at Low LevelNational survey findings released today indicate that Americans’ awareness of nanotechnology remains low. Popular awareness is nearly as small as the tiny nanoscale materials and nano-enabled devices and products now flowing onto the market from this rapidly progressing technology that experts believe will usher in a new industrial revolution.
- September 17, 2007pdfNanotech Could Make Solar Energy as Easy and Cheap as Growing GrassScientists are working to produce cheap, sustainable solar energy by imitating nature. Nanotechnology researchers like California Institute of Technology professor Nate Lewis are exploring nanoscale materials that mimic the architecture of grass and photosynthesis to capture and store the sun’s energy.
- September 13, 2007pdfFederal Research Plan to Determine Nanotech Risks Fails to DeliverAlmost a year in the making, a federal plan to prioritize research on the potential environmental, health, and safety (EHS) impacts of nanoscale materials has so many failings that its begs the question as to whether the government’s 13-agency nanotechnology research effort is able to deliver an effective risk research strategy, according to David Rejeski, head of the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.
- August 8, 2007pdfPlenty of Clean Water at the NanofrontierThe single most important application of nanotechnology could be solving the global shortage of clean water—benefiting people in both industrialized and developing countries significantly. A new podcast explores how Eric Hoek and his engineering research team at UCLA developed a new nano-membrane that promises to dramatically reduce the cost and energy needed to desalinate seawater and clean wastewater. In the near term, these membranes could work in municipal desalination plants in water-thirsty areas, such as those planned for the California coastline. In the future, this groundbreaking technology can be adapted to meet the clean water needs of poor countries and people who rely on low cost, decentralized water treatment systems.
- August 6, 2007pdfWhat's the Difference Between Harry Potter and Nanotechnology?What is the difference between Harry Potter and nanotechnology? Answer: they both look like magic but only one really is! Imagine materials as light as plastic and as strong as steel; car batteries that make gasoline look like steam power; or cancer treatments that selectively target diseased cells. Using nanotechnology, researchers are pushing the boundaries of what is possible, and making the dreams of yesterday the reality of tomorrow.
- July 26, 2007pdfNanoWaste Needs Attention of EPA, Industry, and InvestorsThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must make key decisions about how to apply the two major end-of-life statutes to nanotechnology waste in order to ensure adequate oversight for these technologies, concludes a new report from the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. However, the report notes that the Agency lacks much of the data on human health and eco-toxicity that form the basis for such determinations, creating some tough challenges ahead in EPA’s decision-making process.
- July 25, 2007pdfFDA Nanotechnology Task Force Takes Positive Step ForwardStatement by Michael R. Taylor, Former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy (1991-94)
- July 25, 2007pdfFDA Nanotechnology Task Force Takes a Step ForwardAccording to Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Director David Rejeski, “Today, FDA took a step forward in fulfilling its responsibilities for nanotechnology oversight. If nanotechnology regulation was a baseball game, FDA has scored the first run in the first inning. But the agency must act rapidly to adopt and fully implement the Nanotechnology Task Force’s recommendations. Without moving quickly and building on the recommendations in the Task Force report, FDA will not be able to keep pace with today’s rapidly developing nanotechnology market or engender consumer and investor confidence in emerging products.”
- July 12, 2007pdfEPA Foregoes Opportunity to Improve Nanotechnology OversightThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its current thinking on whether a nanoscale material is a “new” or “existing” chemical substance under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In the document, TSCA Inventory Status of Nanoscale Substances—General Approach, EPA states that it will maintain its practice of determining whether nanoscale substances qualify as new chemicals under TSCA on a case-by-case basis.
